Cherry Blossom
by Bex Drake
Summary: The world is dying, all thanks to mankinds greed. The Earth Goddess must once again be sealed in the place from which she escaped, out of love. [SxS] 1 shot Epilogue
1. Cherry Blossom

Disclaimer: The plot/ idea for this one shot fic comes from the magna "Terra" by Soome Lee which, I think, is a beautiful story. The characters Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol and Clow Reed belong to CLAMP. So as you can see I own nothing.

Authors Note: I'm not normally good at one shot's, so I hope that this is okay. I am still working on D'Amour, though slowly, and hopefully a new chapter will be added soon.

Cherry Blossom

A young man with windswept brown hair and sombre amber eyes bent down and tenderly stroked the ground. "The planet, our world, has become deaths domain." He said sadly to his companion, an auburn haired girl with sad green eyes. He had chosen her as his guide to the place where it was said the Goddess Sakura had been trapped in the earth until a magician had fallen in love with her and then freed her. "Nothing, not even a blade of grass grows here anymore." The guy straightened and turned to the girl, who was sitting on a nearby rock.

She looked up at him, her emerald eyes flashing with annoyance. "Man polluted Mother Earth, right?" She asked sounding bored. "Look I'm not here for a history lesson, I'm just here for the money." She said frankly. "Call me Ying Fa." She smiled at him, then frowned. "You are paying me to guide you to the place where the Goddess was buried, right?" She questioned.

"Call me Syaoran." He said abruptly before turning away and beginning to climb the rocks ahead of them. Ying Fa stared at him for a couple of seconds, not moving, then followed after him. The hot midday sun was shining down on them making the already hot day even hotter.

"It's said that it started getting hotter once the Goddess was released. That every day since the temperature has risen by a degree." Ying Fa remarked, feeling excessively hot. Even though she was wearing a light T-shirt and shorts, her once pale skinned was tanned from the many guided tours she had given since her return to the village. Ying Fa glanced at Syaoran and raised an eyebrow, wondering how on earth he could still be wearing a trench coat in the heat. "Jesus!" She exclaimed shaking her head. "How can you still be wearing that?" She asked gesturing at his coat.

She stopped climbing on a ridge to fan herself, in an attempt to cool down. "You'd think I'd be used to the heat by now, wouldn't you?" She grumbled. "I go out here every day and the heat still affects me like it did the first day." She smiled grimly. Syaoran sighed in exasperation and pulled out a circular object from his pocket and handed it to Ying Fa. She looked at it, then at him curiously. "What is it?" She asked taking it gingerly from him.

"It's called Ice Wing." He said, "It'll keep you cool." Ying Fa looked at him in surprise.

"You're… you're a magician?!" She yelped in surprise. Looking at him closely she realised if she had thought about it, it wouldn't have been hard to guess. Why else would he be able to wear a trench coat in such sweltering heat? Syaoran nodded in agreement looking into the distance.

"Does that mean you want to cage the Goddess when you find her?" Ying Fa asked bluntly. Syaoran just looked at her, refusing to answer. "The Villagers say that a magician freed the Goddess and they ran away together." Ying Fa smiled absently. "At first all the women thought that it was romantic. Then things started to wilt and the land became barren. Everyone is afraid that the world is going to die." She raised her sad emerald eyes to his amber ones. "Now they want to lynch her and the magician." Abruptly she turned away and began climbing again. "Anyway, I doubt you'll find her here." She remarked. "Why should she return here, to the place of her imprisonment? She'll probably still be with the magician somewhere." She added when she reached the top, as she watched him climb up and join her on the ridge.

"She'll return." Syaoran said firmly as he stood up Ying Fa looked at him startled. "She has to." He explained. "The Goddess is unable to live, to survive, in an unpure world." Ying Fa nodded thoughtfully. He seemed to know a lot about the Goddess, a lot more than the people who usually tried to find her. Perhaps it was because he was a magician? Ying Fa wished the Goddess well, wherever she was.

"What if something happens to her?" Ying Fa questioned curious as to what the magician thought that outcome would lead to. Syaoran started walking forward and Ying Fa ran to catch up with him.

"The Goddess knows that her life is in danger, that is why she will return here." Syaoran said frankly apparently ignoring Ying Fa.

"She didn't ask to be locked up." Ying Fa said abruptly. "She didn't ask for any of this. She escaped once because of love and now she has to return." Ying Fa shook her head sadly. "Oh the irony."

"The Earth's Goddess is unable to stand by and watch whilst everything dies." Syaoran replied kindly. "It's against her nature." Ying Fa brushed her hair off of her face and walked in silence with Syaoran for a couple of minutes.

"So you're going to reseal her then." Ying Fa said sighing sadly. "Don't you feel sorry for her?"

****

Ying Fa and Syaoran walked in silence the rest of the way to the last place where the Earth Goddess was seen. It was nearly nightfall when they arrived and the temperature had dropped dramatically, Ying Fa was shivering slightly.

"Damn! If we'd started earlier we'd have arrived sooner." Ying Fa grumbled watching Syaoran start a fire using his magic. "Magic's handy." She remarked scooting closer to the warmth of the fire. "I wish I could start a fire."

"Compared to the Goddess who can revive the world magic is nothing, a magician is nothing." Syaoran replied with a wry smile. Ying Fa looked at him through the flames; he looked young and vulnerable right then. It had seemed impossible earlier that he could look like that, he had seemed too… too serious.

"You know, there's no guarantee that you won't fall in love with the Goddess." Ying Fa observed. "There could be a 'Goddess escaped with another lover' scenario. The village women would love that." She added with a wry smile.

"That is not a possibility." Syaoran said firmly, Ying Fa looked at him somewhat surprised and put out. "Even if she was the girl I was destined to love, I would still cage her. It is better that just one… two people suffer than millions." Ying Fa regarded Syaoran with a new found respect; not many people would do that. A part of her wondered whether he had just said pretty words, if he would really do that given the choice.

"You're a heart breaker then." Ying Fa replied matter of factly looking deep within the flames. "My sister, Tomoyo met a guy like you. He was a magician as well, he was born in the Hesang district of the town but his skills as a magician were known in many districts. One day he was asked if he wanted to work in Oyum with a wizened old magician called Clow Reed but it meant leaving Tomoyo behind." Ying Fa smiled sadly. "He chose to leave her behind and forget his promise." She looked up from the fire her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "She still loves him, even though he left her Tomoyo still loves him. That's why I'm saving up any money I make from these tours. I hate having to watch her heart break a little more each day."

"You have a soft spot for mankind, Ying Fa." Syaoran remarked when she had finished. Ying Fa's eyes widened in shock but she chose not to say anything about this odd comment.

"I don't know if Tomoyo realises this, but things change as time passes." She continued like Syaoran had never spoken. "The Goddess and Tomoyo are very similar." Ying Fa said thoughtfully. "If the Goddess resacrifices herself and the world revives because of her sacrifice if man makes the same mistakes again she, like my sister, is going to end up hurt."

"The Goddess isn't Tomoyo." Syaoran said with certainty but Ying Fa wasn't listening to him, reality seemed to be slipping away from her and all she could feel was immense pain. '_Why does my head feel like it's splitting? My heart feels like it's torn in two?_' She wondered. "The Goddess is…" Syaoran continued apparently unaware of Ying Fa's pain. He got up and walked around the fire crouching down next to Ying Fa. "She is an amazing being. One who can love man and at the same time forgive mankind all of its mistakes."

Syaoran placed at hand on Ying Fa's shoulder and the other over her mouth, he lent forward and whispered in her ear. "Sakur-a" Ying Fa froze where she was unsure what to say or do. "You cannot continue living in that body Sakura." Ying Fa sagged back against him and Syaoran removed his hand from her mouth. "You don't have the proper immune system to survive Sakura." Syaoran said sadly loosening his grip of her.

"What are you talking about?" Ying Fa demanded her eyes glittering with anger. "Let me go Syaoran!" She yelled pulling out of his grasp, tears streaming down her face as she turned to look at him. Her eyes widened in surprise as the image before them began to change.

**

Before her eyes stood a man who looked similar to Syaoran cast into shadow by the full moon. He was wearing a green hooded cloak that was billowing in the breeze, the hood of the cloak casting a dark shadow over his face so she was unable to see it clearly. _Who…?_ She wondered. He stepped forward and then walked through her, like he was unaware of her presence, towards a bright white light behind her.

She turned around and saw a woman of about her height and build surrounded by a ball of bright, brilliant white light. The woman's auburn floor length hair and her pink dress that reached the floor which started off baby pink and got darker as it went down, fluttered and billowed in a non-existent wind. The guy extended a hand to the woman touching her gently on the shoulder; her emerald eyes flew open. Seeing the guy she smiled and pushed back the hood of his cloak and then hugged him. 

The guy turned towards her. _Oh my Goddess!_ She thought her eyes widening as she recognised the guy. _That's Syaoran, no wonder he knew so much about the Earth Goddess._ Then the woman began to turn around and Ying Fa stepped back, she wasn't sure if she wanted to see the face of the Goddess but she had no choice as the Goddess continued to turn around revealing a face similar to Ying Fa's only it was younger and older, and it wisdom, understanding, peace and hope seemed to shine through the Goddesses eyes and her aura. _She looks just like…me! She… she is me? I am her?_ There was a flash of golden light and Syaoran was gone. All that was left was the Goddess slumped on the ground. A silvery light, that consumed her and shone so brightly that Ying Fa was forced to look away, surrounded the Goddess…

**

Ying Fa opened her eyes and stared at the ground breathing fast, her hand covered her mouth as she trembled in shock. "Those were the memories of the Goddess." Syaoran said behind her, "You were only able to see them because you started to remember subconsciously." He added by way of explanation. Ying Fa forced herself to sit up, still breathing hard she turned to face Syaoran.

"You're the magician that fell in love with Goddess." She said breathlessly. Syaoran nodded his amber eyes sad. "You knew from the beginning, who I was." Sakura said meeting her own sad emerald eyes with his amber ones, she smiled at him sadly. "That's why you chose me, out of all the others you chose me because you knew who I was." She licked her lips. "What's going to happen to me?" She asked calmly.

Syaoran looked at her and he could feel his heart break again, he knew that the Goddess… the woman he loved, Sakura, was back and it broke his heart knowing what he had to do. He swallowed. "You cannot change what is already in motion." He told her mirroring the words that she had told him the first time that they had met one hundred years ago. Magicians didn't age as fast as humans did, so he looked only a couple of years older. "Should you die the Earth will die with you."

Sakura stood up and walked over to him, gently she caressed his cheek. "I am not frightened." She said calmly. "I will sleep again in the depths of the Earth and not awaken until you call for me again, at the end of time." She smiled. "It is and always has been my destiny." Gently she moved the hair off of his face. "Do not grieve for me, I am not gone. We shall one day meet again in a house surrounded by cherry blossom like we did the first time." She lent forward and kissed Syaoran gently on the lips. She drew back tears silently falling down her cheeks. "Take care of Tomoyo for me, please." She whispered then closed her eyes.

Syaoran caught her body before it hit the ground; tears were now falling silently from his eyes. "I will." He promised looking at the body of the girl he had loved and still did as it began to transform itself back into that of the Goddesses. 

Her body began to rise from the ground her long auburn hair and pink dress were once again billowing in an unseen breeze, as she drew the power of the earth to her. Slowly a bright golden light obscured her from Syaoran's view. 

__

There lives a race of beings…

…that are born to restore the balance of nature. 

To be sacrificed for mankind, she is one such being…

…we call her Sakura.

Her kind cannot survive the impurities of this world; they feel the destruction that man reeks on nature in their hearts. Mankind and her kind could not coexist forever…

… but she promises hope for the future. Maybe one day…

****

Syaoran stood looking out the window in his friend Eriol's house. "You've done it Syaoran." Eriol said with a smile. "The world is starting to grow again, pollution is disappearing and the birds and the animals are slowly returning." Eriol took a sip of his tea regarding Syaoran curiously. "What took you so long?"

Syaoran looked at the single cherry blossom tree on the horizon that marked the spot where the Goddess was buried. He licked his lips and a silent tear fell down his cheek. Sakura had given him hope that they would meet again but she had never said when or specifically where. "She… she loved mankind." He remarked, choosing not to mention that she loved him and he her. What good would knowing that do anyone?

"What?!" Eriol asked shocking, spitting out the tea he had just taken a mouth full of. "Her kind cannot and could not love mankind. It was her or us." Eriol ran a hand through his hair wondering what had caused Syaoran to think such a thing, let alone say it. "She's not really a Goddess." He pointed out practically. "The Gods gave her to us as a sacrifice, nothing more nothing less."

Syaoran turned around to face his oldest friend, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Oh I don't know." He replied. "To me she will always be a Goddess."

Outside the branches of the cherry blossom tree billowed in the wind, marking the place where the Goddess Sakura rested until it was the end of time. In the branches a lone figure could be seen, one leg curled beneath her and the other swinging back and fourth. Around her the grass began to spring to life hiding the once burnt and barren soil underneath a layer of green. The figure waved then she ceased to exist and the cherry blossom tree was empty. The wind carried the silent words she had uttered into Eriol's house through an open window. "Adieu." Syaoran lifted his head up startled hearing his loves words and rushed back to the window. There was nothing outside save the cherry blossom tree.

Authors Note: Thanks for reading. Any comments/ criticisms are welcome. I would love to know what everyone's opinion of this is. I could be tempted into writing an epilogue if enough people are interested, Bex


	2. Epilogue

Disclaimer: As before I own nothing!

Authors Note: Yes I remember that this is supposed to be a one shot, well I am writing this chapter… well epilogue for Jen because she asked and because she was my first proper reviewer J . So here you go Jen, the epilogue…

Cherry Blossom- Epilogue

Sometime in the future…

She was there again, sitting or rather lounging in the highest branch of the largest and oldest cherry blossom tree in the forest idly swinging the leg she wasn't sitting on back and fourth her auburn hair billowing in the breeze and her piercing green eyes looking straight ahead. "Time," She murmured sadly. "It will soon be time." She stood up and jumped off of the branch somersaulting in mid air and landing with a gentle thud on her feet.

"Sakura?" A feminine voice questioned behind her. Sakura sighed; she hadn't heard that name in a long time. Not since she had said goodbye to Syaoran. Smiling she turned around to face the voice. The branches of the cherry blossom tree, making it look like a Goddess had just set foot on the Earth, framed her. Her pink dress and auburn hair billowed around her caught in the breeze and the petals from the cherry blossom fell all around her.

She smiled at the figure and the smile broadened as the figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light revealing a slender girl about Sakura's age with long billowing black hair and amethyst eyes. "Tomoyo!" Sakura squealing hugging her friend tightly tears silently rolling down her cheeks. Tomoyo returned her hug just as tightly.

"It feels like Millennia since I last saw you." Tomoyo whispered sadly. Sakura drew back and smiled at Tomoyo.

"Perhaps it has been that long." Sakura agreed.

"It is Time, Sakura." Tomoyo said softly her amethyst eyes sad.

"Already?" Sakura gasped her emerald eyes wide. Tomoyo nodded ruefully. 

"Mankind must now have the world to itself to do with as it pleases. Our time is over and our power is diminishing." Tomoyo looked up at the warm morning cloudless sky.

"I've felt my power seep away from me." Sakura agreed. "But I thought that I was just imagining it… just hoping… or that maybe it was because I still hold the power that isn't mine." Tomoyo raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't remember does he and you don't want to burden him." Tomoyo remarked gently. "But the time has come. We can no longer stay here. It is time to collect the remaining three." Sakura smiled.

"It will be great to see everyone again." She said cheerfully. "Only it will be sad because we will be saying goodbye to our home." Her smile faltered slightly.

"Don't see it as an ending Sakura." Tomoyo advised. "See it rather as a beginning."

****

Eriol put the book down and looked at his companion a dark haired woman with mahogany eyes who was sitting fiddling with a sword absently. "Can you hear it?" He enquired. Meiling nodded. "The time has finally come." He stood up and looked around his house smiling sadly. "It is such a pity that we must leave them on their own, but we can only guide them so far on their path."

"What about Syaoran?" Meiling questioned standing up also and placing the sword on the coffee table. "Does he remember?" Eriol shook his head.

"He sealed her into the ground still guarding his power and he has not returned since, though many times I have felt her call to him." Eriol replied.

"So have I." Meiling replied looking worried. "Are you sure that he will answer her call?" Eriol walked to the window and looked outside, down to the cherry blossom forest that almost reached to the front door of his house. It was hard to believe that once the land had been barren and nothing had grown there.

"He has no choice but to answer, though he knows not why. Like us he cannot ignore Sakura's call."

****

He was sitting on the edge of a cliff staring down at the sea, his sword on the ground next to him glistening in the noon sun his green cloak wrapped around him protecting him from the majority of the iciness the wind was throwing at him. '_Syaoran!_' There it was again, the voice that had been calling him every day for the past one hundred years. '_It is time, time to set me free. You buried me a long time ago to save mankind, now it is time to unburry me._' It said sounding pleading and commanding at the same time. The voice was female and sounded familiar, like he had heard it long ago under the branches of the…

"Sakura?!" He whispered aloud. "Is that you?" He wanted desperately to believe that it was her that was calling him, then he remembered she had said they would meet again. He stood up his amber eyes hard with purpose, his cloak billowing about him in the wind, and he headed back to the last place he had seen her. The place where she was buried until… did that mean it was the end of time?

****

All four of them sat in the branches of the cherry blossom tree and watched as the loan figure draped in a dark green cloak made his way towards him. "Are you sure it is Time?" Sakura asked again her emerald eyes troubled.

"It is his burden to carry not yours." Eriol said quietly. "You have carried it for him through the centuries out of love, now you must give it him back on the eve of our departure and with it a choice." Sakura nodded her emerald eyes growing sad.

"I understand." She whispered before jumping down to the ground from her branch, landing with a slight thud. Tomoyo and Meiling made a move to follow her but Eriol shook her head.

"Only she can do this."

**

Sakura stepped out of the branches as Syaoran drew near, his eyes widened in surprise. "You… you're free?" He whispered shocked, Sakura smiled at him sadly as she moved closer to him. Gently she placed her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. Syaoran looked back calmly. Startled he felt her trembling then he saw large tears role down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered her eyes tortured with pain.

"For what?" He asked calmly, wondering what she had to be sorry about if anything it was he who had something to be sorry about. Sakura licked her lips and drew away from him.

"A long time ago you gave me something, something you don't remember giving me. You gave it to me because what mankind was doing to the world was destroying you and you had no choice. Since then I have kept it and not returned it to you because… because I love you." She smiled. "Now I have to return your gift because it is time for you to remember." Syaoran looked at her shocked, what was she talking about? But it struck a chord deep within him and something within him began to stir, to awaken.

Sakura held out her hand, resting in her palm was a green ball of energy. She looked Syaoran in the eyes, within the depths of them Syaoran could see love, hope and understanding. "This is yours." She murmured as Syaoran held out his hand and covered the green ball. He bit his lip feeling divine power flow through his veins. He was surrounded by a blinding green light but Sakura stayed where she was looking into the ball watching as her love began to remember everything.

__

The five elements…

Eriol…Water…

Meiling… Fire…

Tomoyo… Air…

Himself, Syaoran… Earth…

Sakura… Spirit…

The choice…

The green light receded and it left Syaoran standing there apparently unchanged holding Sakura's hand. He looked into her emerald eyes with warm amber ones filled with love. "Thank you for guarding my power for me." He said. Sakura smiled tears of happiness falling down her cheeks. She hugged him tightly then drew back and kissed him gently on the lips, her arms entwining around his neck.

Eriol coughed behind them and Sakura and Syaoran guiltily broke apart and turned to face their friends who were still sitting in the tree. Meiling looking bored and Tomoyo and Eriol amused. "The choice." Eriol said reminding Sakura of what must be done. The smile dropped from her face and eyes and she turned to Syaoran.

"Eriol is right, love." She said quietly. "You have a choice ahead of you, that you alone can make. Perhaps I should have given you your powers back earlier so that the choice wouldn't be so hard." She stroked his face tenderly. "This was your planet and you had so little time to enjoy it." Syaoran caught her hand with his and held onto it tightly. "It is Time for us to leave, mankind is renouncing us and so our powers diminish- all except yours. This is your realm, you are master here and can rule it long after we are only dim memories to the stars." She swallowed and looked up at the night sky, then returned her gaze to his. "You can either remain here, on the world you created out of love, or you can join us on our journey into the unknown."

Syaoran smiled at her. "For millennia's of human time I have walked this world and I have seen many things that otherwise I would not have seen. The one thing that thinking I was mortal has taught me is how I feel without you; I cannot willingly go through that again. I choose to go with you, to wherever you want." Then he lent forward and captured her lips in a passionate kiss ignoring their audience. Sakura drew back and breathlessly smiled at him, some auburn hair falling across her face. With a wink she tucked it behind her ear and turned to their three companions watching as they joined them under the cherry blossom trees.

"It is TIME!!" Sakura called. Everything seemed to freeze in place for a couple of seconds, there was no sound, no movement, no light, no dark, no heat, no cold, there was nothing. Sakura and Syaoran held hands tightly, unconsciously Sakura moved closer to him. Tomoyo smiled at Eriol and stood next to him. Standing in the middle on her own Meiling rolled her eyes, amused by the couples' obvious displays of affection. Then everything seemed to rush towards them and they were surrounded by a warm glowing silver light that seemed to consume them and hide them from view, blinding everyone who looked in its direction momentarily.

When the light had cleared all that was left was a lone cherry blossom tree. From its top branch a Dove took flight heading into the unknown, like the five companions as they hurtled through space into the unknown.

Authors Note: Finally the finale *cheers* now there will definitely be no more chapters after this. I hope that you enjoyed it! Bex


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